Oct 31 1985
From The Space Library
The Soviet Union, which had kept its space program under tight military control since it launched in 1957 the first satellite, announced creation of a civilian space agency, the NY Times reported. The agency would be responsible for the design, construction, and use of spacecraft for scientific research, remote sensing applications such as surveys of resources and crops, and joint space programs with other countries.
In making the announcement, the government newspaper Izvestia identified the new agency as the Main Administration for the Creation and Use of Space Technology for the Economy and for Scientific Research, the Post said. It would be known as Glavkosmos, an acronym for the Russian terms “main” and “space.” Izvestia did not specify the position of the agency in the Soviet government's table of organization but did identify the head of the agency as A. I. Dunayev.
The only other publicly disclosed space-related agency in the Soviet Union was the Space Research Institute, founded in 1965 and a unit of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Western officials generally regarded that institute as performing some civilian space coordinating functions. However, in announcing Glavkosmos, Izvestia said, “It goes without saying that the effective use of space technology is of interest to many government ministries and agencies and to scientific organizations. The space program has reached such scope as to require the creation of a special coordinating agency.” According to the announcement, the new agency would consider proposals for projects, work out long-term plans, and administer programs. It would also be responsible for launching satellites on vehicles expected to be supplied by the military and for collection and dissemination of satellite information.
Izvestia said the agency would administer the Intercosmos program and the search and rescue satellite program, an international effort of the Soviet Union, the U.S., Canada, and France. The announcement did not make clear whether the new agency would administer any manned flights; but the emphasis seemed to be on automated space vehicles concerned with remote sensing, which until then had been part of the Cosmos series, a mixture of nearly 1700 civilian and military satellites launched since 1962. (NY Times, Oct 31/85, B13)
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